“When I think of you, I touch myself.”
– Divinyls, “I Touch Myself”
I can be a sucker for Steve Job’s reality distortion field just like the next guy, but he is onto something with the Apple iPhone. Whether the phone lives up to the hype will have to wait until its release in June. Until then, I’ll just imagine the new avenues the iPhone’s “multi-touch” technology opens.
- Widescreen video iPod with a hard disk = portable home theater/portfolio.
- e-book, web reader
- touchscreen iMac (think Minority Report).
- GPS and using your finger to draw your route
- Cheap Skype phone calls through WiFi/Internet
- Remote “tablet”-like device for Aperture, Photoshop, 3D applications.
- true handheld computer connected to the Internet
Tech Futurist Paul Saffo said it best about the possibilities the iPhone creates if it works as advertised: “It’s the next home for our mind.” Just like the iPod allowed you to carry your entire music and photo library with you, so now you can bring your entire print library. The high-resolution widescreen and the ability to zoom and move with your fingers not only makes viewing web pages easier, but could also be the perfect e-book and e-magazine reader.
WiFi and high-speed cellular means constant access to your data and information. I have customized news feeds available on my Treo smartphone via Google Reader. The latest news I already use Google Maps on my Treo to find stores and get directions to anywhere even when I am already on the road. With a full Safari web browser that will come on the iPhone, not only should I have access to all the knowledge on the Internet, I should be able to write documents and take notes using web based apps like Google Docs & Spreadsheets and Google Notebook. (I know it’s Google-tastic on this post, but that’s what I use.)
To get a better idea how “multi-touch” interfaces would work, check out Jeff Han’s TED talk where he demonstrates a similar feature. Or watch Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report again.
BTW-I’m all over the widescreen iPod with a HDD. Apple has to make it. The question is: does Apple release it before or after the iPhone debuts?
